


Katsuki's Potions Service

by sarsroses



Category: Majo no Takkyuubin | Kiki's Delivery Service, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: M/M, Magic, Potions, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, bakushima, but if you don't know it what are you doing, kiribaku, you don't really need to know Kiki to get this, you'd just miss out on refrences
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-14 15:36:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13010841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarsroses/pseuds/sarsroses
Summary: Since he left his home as a wizard in training three years ago, Bakugou Katsuki has never been able to settle in a town of his own. Finally, he wins an old house under mysterious circumstances and attempts to start a potions trade. Thankfully, a fiery red head is there to help him with customer service.





	1. Greetings

“What kind of guy would just up and live in a clearly haunted house?” Kirishima asked, in a much more relaxed state than any of his three friends could manage. From across the street, they each stared intently at the creaking shack some members of the party called a house.

It was an old building. So old that, though the four onlookers had grown up in the town, none could remember a time when anyone had lived in it. In a constant state of decay, one could almost sense the wind blow straight through it as if it wasn’t really there. A gust of air every now and again managing to make the whole building lean to one side, so much so that passers by would expect it to topple over. It never did.

Kaminari shoved his hands deep in his pockets to hide his fidgeting as the house creaked again with the winds whistling, a chorus of warning. “I dunno man, sounds like one crazy dude to me.”

“Or maybe he’s always been there . . . maybe - maybe the ghost has just found a rotting corpse to possess,” Ashido piqued up, grin growing on her lips as the others shivered.

Kirishima snorted at the idea, but was interrupted in his response.

“He does only come out at night, man,” Sero continued.

“With a ghostly pale face, a permanent scowl and eyes harrowed with an anger that could only be a hunger for long awaited revenge,” Ashido narrated, clearly not helping the boys relax.

Kirishima chuckled, but waved his hand to dismiss the thought. “I’m sure he’s a nice guy. He just moved in, maybe he’s having trouble adjusting or something.”

In the silence after the sentiment, a noise from the house forced their discussion to end. A scratching, repetitive and insistent, growing louder and louder with an assumed impatience. The backs of the party straightened and Kirishima swallowed down his fear. He took a step forward, startling the others more than the noises had.

“Dude, where’re you going?” Kaminari asked.

Kirishima turned to face him with a mischievous grin and a spark of excitement in his eyes. “To introduce myself.”

The group seemed to stumble on their words, unsure if they should discourage the red head. By the time they had organised their thoughts, Kirishima was already past the rusted wire fence and on the lawn headed for the front door.

The small wooden porch creaked under Kirishima’s feet as he approached the front door, and something inside froze as he did. He knocked twice with confidence and waited. After a minute he turned back to his friends and shrugged his shoulders. Only then was the rickety door yanked open and Kirishima spun around to face a scowl with a venom more volatile than Ashido’s homemade science experiments.

“What do you want?” the boy behind the door spat. He held it open with a tension that foretold a desire to slam it in the redhead’s face. Kirishima blinked, bemused, surveying the boy for the few seconds he had. The new resident, seemingly around Kirishima’s age had hair that sprung out in all directions as if in warning of the boys explosive nature. Red eyes confirmed Ashido’s suspicions and Kirishima was forced to gulp down his hesitation.

Kirishima opened his mouth to reply, but paused when he felt something push against his leg. A black cat, strangely small and fluffy for it’s breed, nudged its head against his trousers and meowed. Kirishima smiled softly at the cat, happy with himself solving the mystery of the spooky scratching.

The owner of the cat growled, muttering what Kirishima heard to be “fuck off Deku”. The cat, in response shot a look at it’s owner before it sprung off towards Kirishima’s friends, who took him up with excitable if cautious care. Behind him followed a muttering of “useless cat” and “see if I care”.

Kirishima raised an eyebrow, “you call your cat Deku? As in . . . useless?”

The boy’s scowl deepened. “What of it?”

Kirishima was about to back off when the blond continued. “The mongrel doesn’t give a fuck, ever since that damn witch Uraraka -“

Kirishima’s eyes widened, he couldn't refrain himself from ranting. “Witch!? You know a witch? Like, a real live witch? My, there hasn’t been a witch in these parts for decades. I’d love to meet one, imagine that…”

The red head looked up at the blond momentarily, expecting a wrath of curses for his obviously unwanted enthusiasm. Instead the boy’s scowl had turned into a wicked grin.

“Thank fuck,” he began, then shouted loud enough for the cat to hear, “we’re staying right here you shit.” The cat bowed it’s head in disdain.

“What?”

“Get lost shitty hair,” he growled at Kirishima, though the venom was lost in his smirk.

And with that, the door was slammed in his face and all conversation ceased. Kirishima turned back to his friends with a shrug. When he got back to them still stood stiffly on the other side of the street, he rubbed the back of his head and smiled. “Nice guy.”

Kaminari scoffed, “dude he started yelling at us, what’d we do?”

“Nah he was yelling at his cat I think,” Kirishima responded, glancing at Deku who resided comfortably snuggled in Sero’s arms. His three friends followed his gaze.

“. . . he talks to cats,” Ashido mumbled. The boys paused to look at her. “He has a black cat.”

“Yeah, weird, right?” Kirishima chimed.

“No no no, guys, he’s gotta be a wizard,” she gasped.

“He’s more like a vampire,” Kaminari began, “wizards don’t actually exist, do they?”

Ashido shook her head at her friend, “he had perfectly normal teeth, and he wasnt bothered about the sun. Only witches speak to cats!”

“Yeah, and he’s not a witch.” Ashido stuck her tongue out at Kaminari’s statement.

“He’s probably just some hot dude who hates his cat enough to shout at it?” Kirishima asked, ignoring both the fact that he apparently thought he was cute and that the guy had mentioned knowing a witch minutes previous.

“Just your type, huh?”

Once his friends had quietened, Sero nudged the cat in his hands, “what do we do with this?” The friends exchanged glances, none of them wanting to get back into the firing range of the not-witch not-vampire. Sero set the cat down at his feet.

“I guess if it’s magical it won’t have much trouble getting home,” Kaminari mused.

The rest hummed in agreement and ignored it as it sat watching them, each pretending they didn't notice how unnerving the experience was. They set off once more to Kirishima’s house to chatter again about the mysterious new resident. Theories from ghoul to fae were thrown around as they walked, though no one could quite pin it. They pretended again, as they were chatting that ‘Deku’ wasn’t following them.

When they arrived at Kirishima’s house, Kaminari started to get jittery with all the talk of dangerous mythical beasts and managed to scare the cat away with a shoe and a lot of running.

Deku strolled back to the rickety shack and pawed at the window of the living room until it was begrudgingly opened. He sat up on the mouldy couch and watched as his owner smashed another beaker.

“You’re going to have to go foraging soon,” the cat said, licking his paws as he spoke. “You can’t use the bat wings Miss Uraraka gave you forever.”

The boy snorted in response, disgruntled as he swept up the broken glass with an old broom that leant against the wall beside a rack of peculiarly coloured ingredients. “Why don’t you go back to sulking with those brat kids?”

Deku didn’t reply, but continued licking his paws, stretching in the silence for good measure.

“You didn’t have to even come, you should’ve just stayed back with Uraraka and Iida. I wouldn’t’ve had to put up with you.”

“I made a promise.”

“Then keep it and shut up.”

And that was that.


	2. of crows and warnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakugou gets into a fight with a bird and threatens Kirishima with salt

At first light a branch snapped under heavy boots and the air froze. The newcomer was dressed in black with a dark blue cloak. He slung a great old broom over his shoulder with a small cauldron hung over the wood, swinging with each step. A rustling in the trees alerted the newcomer to a disgruntled crow, who pulled its wings up above its body and heaved a deep throaty ‘caw’.

The blond boy glanced down at the cat who strode casually at his side. “What’s up with bird brain here?” He asked.

Deku paused, looked up at the bird and listened once more to a series of unhappy noises. He tutted and turned up to his master. “She’s asked you to get lost.” He waited once more as the bird continued. “Bakugou, the crows here don’t want to have anything to do with magical folk.”

Bakugou scoffed. “It’s been a hundred years since crows betrayed the witch title, tell them to get over themselves. Besides, I’ve finally found a town without a resident witch, I’m not leaving.”

The bird scurried about in frustration, scratching at the wood of the branch it perched on. With another ‘caw’ another two birds few down to meet the boy. When Deku was too polite to relay the message, his master sighed and muttered, “useless cat.”

He called up to the branches, “It’s been three years since I did my training, I’m not some naive child. If you don’t back off i’ll burn you with the hemlock dust in my cauldron.” The birds grew louder and louder. Deku backed up to stand behind his owner.

“Bakugou,” Deku warned, “they’re calling for back up.” The cats voice wavered as he knew for a fact that they had run out of hemlock in a failed Doxycide potion a week before.

The boy grabbed his cauldron and slung his broom back around to his side. Bakugou, never one to back away from a fight, stayed still as hundreds of crows surrounded them and patiently waited to attack. The boy dug a hand into his cauldron and scowled when several of the birds took up a frenzy.

“I’m leaving now. Any bird who follows get’s their tail feathers plucked, you hear me?” And for once their was silence.

Bakugou quickly positioned his broom. The second Deku’s claws dug into the wood he pulled them straight upwards and hovered above the trees for a few seconds, surveying the area below them. The crows grew suspicious the longer he hovered and so Bakugou acted quickly.

Digging his hand into his cauldron he brought out two minuscule capsules. Fragile glass encased a drop of lemon coloured pigment each. With a wave of his hand he cast the capsules down below. In seconds there was chaos.

The capsules smashed on the rocks and branches before they even reached the forest floor, spilling the liquid and causing two large explosions. The surviving birds flocked the scene. Two small craters were left to replace the pine trees and a small creek. Bakugou hovered a few more seconds before a black mass emerged from the trees. A flock of crows swooped at him and clawed at his cloak before he angled his broom and flew away with unfazed control.

And so when Kirishima was deciding between chocolate and strawberry milk, he was considerably more startled to see Bakugou cursing the selection of spices than he would have been. Not only was he surprised to see Bakugou out of his house in the bright sunny hours of the afternoon, but the boy looked like he’d fought a storm. Leaves in his hair, rips in his clothes and were those scotch marks?

If his scowl was anything to go by, he was pissed; not that Kirishima had seen him express much else. The red head decided to throw all reason out the window and approach his new neighbour.

“Hey!” He began. Bakugou turned to face him and immediately turned back to leave.

Kirishima followed him. “Hey, no don’t go,” he jumped in front of the boy, cutting off his escape route. ”I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself, see, I live down the street from you and -“

The blond raised his eyebrow, an invitation to shut up. Kirishima stumbled on his words before sticking his hand out, “Anyway, I’m Kirishima.”

Bakugou glanced at the outstretched hand before ignoring it altogether. “Bakugou.”

Kirishima rubbed the back of his head as he did when he got anxious and tried his best to keep the conversation going. He tried not to ponder on the source of his anxiety and instead spoke utter nonsense. When Bakugou’s frown etched deeper into his face he stopped making polite banter and cut to the chase. 

“So, you’re a … wizard?”

In the silence he grew more nervous, “I mean, you talk to your cat and you literally have a cloak wrapped around a cauldron, what happened my the way? It’s in shreds. I don’t mind or anything, you being a wizard! And I wont get super excited like last time, just … you are … aren’t you?”

Bakugou kept his cold gaze on the red head a second longer before turning back to the spices as if nothing happened. “It’s not like it’s a secret.”

“Woah okay, so like, I’ve heard of witches but what about wizards? Can you do anything different? Are you in training? I heard witches leave home for a year at thirteen, but you’re obviously not thirteen, right? You already done your training or?”

In the seconds it took for Kirishima to take a breath he had noticed Bakugou’s expression and backed off. “Right, sorry, no freaking out.”

He tried changing the subject. “So, what’re ya baking, those are some interesting flavour combinations.”

“Dried mint leaves, salt and rosemary for a healing potion, I might get some ginger root for a wit-sharpening charm, you could use it.”

Kirishima ignored the insult in favour of marvelling over Bakugou’s skills, “You sell potions?”

This he answered with a scary amount of anger-feuded enthusiasm. “That’s right, asshole, if you or your dumb friends need some miracle tonic to help you cheat in tests, or win a fight or fix your shitty hair come pay top dollar for a vial.”

Kirishima chuckled lightly, “you really know how to sell your products, don’t you?” Bakugou didn’t reply, he simply scoffed.

“How’d you get beaten up, then?”

Bakugou began grinding his teeth at this, “Fuck off, you want your face burnt to a crisp too?” 

Kirishima put his hands up in defence and backed away. “See ya later, dude. Oh, and i’ll think carefully about your generous offer,” he called before dashing out of the store with his strawberry milk.

As he stepped out of the store his friends were there to meet him.

“What took you so long, man?” Kaminari complained, but paused when he realised Kirishima’s smug smirk. “What, what happened?”

“Ashido was right, he’s a wizard. Found him in the store.” Ashido cheered loudly and spun around with a giggle.

Kirishima began walking in the opposite direction to the others. When asked why, his smile widened. “My friends, I’ve decided It’s about time for me to hold some more responsibility.”

“Oh dear.”

“I’m going to buy a cat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this without properly editing it ay good luck to me
> 
> Let me know if you liked it! This was a fun chapter to write.


	3. cats get their own back, eventually

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bakugou uses his very own brand of wizarding swear words to curse at a cat, and Kirishima's plan doesn't go the way he expected.

“Okay, so you can’t get basic supplies from the forest, your only source of ingredients is cooking spices from the local supermarket and you’ve run out of your reserve stock from the move.” Deku stated. “Your cupboards are empty.”

Bakugou groaned from the mouldy couch in the middle of the living room. He had just woken up and rolled over, blocking his ears with his fingers in an attempt to ignore the insistent cat.

“The only good thing is you don’t have any customers to complain about it yet. Which isn’t really what I’d count as good.” Deku continued despite Bakugou’s complains and utterances of ‘shut the fuck up’.

“What’re you going to do?” He asked. Bakugou didn’t reply. From the kitchen counter in which Deku sat, he waved his tail and paced in thought. He jumped down and made his way over to a pile of papers and on (what was supposed to be) his dining table. The surface was laced with sticky substances and spilt herbs which Deku had to mind and he tip toed around the particularly temperamental substances.

Finally, he took a stained tourists map in his mouth and dragged it to the floor where he could lay it out flat and study it. The little town they occupied was surrounded to the north by trees and potentially revenge-driven crows. To the south, however, the forest land grew less dense as the land dipped inward into a valley. Deku supposed there were caves among the rock formations there and relayed this message to Bakugou who grunted in response.

Deku sighed. “What would you do without me?” He muttered before straying to the windowsill and trotting into the distance with his head held high.

By midday, the young wizard had emerged from his sleepy stupor and had readied his foraging supplies; traps, vials and small cases. He was missing one thing. “Deku you little shit, where the fuck are you?” After three more slammed doors and snarls from a particularly angry 16 year old, he left without his trusty black cat.

Back stooped and teeth grinding together, Bakugou stomped down the sidewalk, nose pushed into a map which he almost definitely had the wrong way around. When he had arrived at the caves he got to work, and was reasonably successful considering he wasn’t familiar with the terrain or the creatures that lived there yet.

He laid traps for bats and toads, located and marked the sources of the few plants with helpful resources. By the time he had finished, he had about half the main supplies he needed. It was just the vital ingredients he required back from those damn crows.

Stalking home, as the sun sunk in the horizon he heard a mew and and muttering. Running in the direction of the sound he ended up behind a low brick wall, bordering him off from a rich garden behind a small house. Inside, two cats played, trotting side by side and occasionally rolling over one another, nudging the other with the side other their head. One of them, a small black fluffy cat Bakugou immediately recognised.

“Deku you amalgamated trilobite sniffer, you fucking left me for this half and half, under grown piece of sage?” He spat. The cat in question peered up at Bakugou with an unforgiving glare, its ears flattened back and it gave a definitive hiss. It was a white cat, though half of its face was covered by a ginger patch that carried down to its shoulder and right leg. A chimera cat, if Bakugou recalled correctly.

“His name is Todoroki,” Deku explained, unphased by his wizard’s colourful insults. “How did your foraging go?”

Bakugou dropped his cauldron in favour of stomping closer to the brick barrier and snarling at Deku, “like shit.” He paused for a second, turning to the plant that had brushed against his cheek in his rage. He touched the berries of a small tree to his left.

“Mistletoe berries,” he muttered. Recalling the potions that required this type of berry, a smirk grew on his face. Forgetfulness potion, poison antidote, this stuff was extremely useful. He glanced over the rest of the garden. “Mushrooms, moly . . . what sort of nightshade-sniffing fool has mandrake in their back garden?” He scoffed. “Rue, lemongrass, lavender”

Deku looked up at Bakugou with a cautious gaze, “Bakugou, you cant just go stealing from other people’s gardens.”

Bakugou’s smirk only grew wider. “Looks like the dimwit just let whatever grew here grow freely.” He looked back behind him to find the North forest not far away. “Its practically an extension of the forest. With a few additional extras,” he gestured to the flowers.

Without hesitation, the boy jumped the fence and plucked several berries from the mistletoe beside him. As soon as he touched the plant he heard a hissing from the chimera behind him. It grew louder the more he took, until eventually he spun around to face it. “What’s wrong with strawberry short cake here?” He asked Deku.

Deku sighed. “Todoroki would like you to stop striping his owner’s garden.”

Bakugou shrugged, “well tough shit, I need this more than they do.” He turned back to the mushrooms on the garden floor. The hissing started up again.

Once he had finished with the lavender, rue and moly, he turned to the mandrake. “Dumb fucker didn’t know what sort of seeds he was sewing,” he mocked. He deposited his collection to his cauldron, which he placed carefully on the brick wall. His broom settled beside it. He prepared the materials he needed to deal with the mandrake. It was still a baby so a small pot and a muting vial did the trick. As he concentrated on transferring the plant, he heard Deku whispering something in conversation with his mongrel friend. 

As Bakugou moved to deposit his winnings to his cauldron he found the new cat dangerously close to his possessions. Without hesitation, the cat walked past his belongings and flicked his tail with enough force that the cauldron teetered and fell to the ground, eliciting the sound of smashed glass, foaming and crackling from what Bakugou assumed to be the last few vials of sleeping draught that had settled at the bottom of the unorganised pile of ingredients. If he wasnt mistaken, that purple ooze dripping from the rue contained his left over night lock.

He cursed and spat as he tried to salvage what he could from the few poisonous substances that had now spilt over half his most vital ingredients. He glared up at the cat who was now perched up on a high ledge, away from Bakugou’s reach. It flicked its tail, happy with itself while Deku conveniently hid himself out of Bakugou’s firing range.

The young wizard fucking lost it, to say the least. He had no remaining potions to throw at it, the mandrake was sedated to the extent that it wouldn’t let out more than a soft wail and his broomstick had remnants of a burning herb splashed on the wood, so chasing after the cat would leave him in a worse position than he already was, considering he was now out of moly.

“You fucker,” he pointed up at the cat, “I will curse you with the deadliest snake venom if it’s the last thing I fucking do.” And with that, he stormed off, locating Deku and yanking him along by the scruff of his neck. Carefully hauling the remnants of his once full cauldron and burnt broom.

The next day, Bakugou was the one up bright and early while Deku sulked on the kitchen counter. Bakugou hadn’t said a word to his cat since the incident. Deku evidently felt partially responsible and even tried to apologise once they had arrived home. Bakugou wasnt having any of it. He left with a slam of the door and an empty cauldron. Hopefully, the traps he had set the day before would have sufficient resources to finally get him started with what was supposed to be his new potions buisness. So much for a fresh start.

As he stalked through the town, he passed the house of the demon cat. He stomped on the sidewalk a little too angrily, and any passer by would wonder why he looked about ready to murder someone. Including Kirishima, who opened the front door of his home with his foot, his new cat curled up in his arms as he strode out onto the footpath with barefoot to check his mailbox. Instead, he was distracted by Bakugou’s wicked expression and paused in his venture.

“Bakugou?” He asked. Bakugou paused only for his anger to brew so much that his shoulders were visibly shaking.

“That was your fucking cat?” He snarled. The wizard got right in Kirishima’s face before continuing. “Do you understand what that little fucker has done? Blasted dragon shit, that hell bent cat needs to be force fed fucking rat intestines, roasted in cursed fire, you hear me? I could use him in a high end poison shitty hair, die!”

Kirishima stood with his cat still in his arms, bewildered. He looked down at Todoroki and back up at the young wizard, still unsure as to the exact nature of his cat’s guilt. When Bakugou paused for breath, grinding his teeth together he opened his mouth to speak. “Do you only use witchy insults when you’re really angry?” He asked with an innocent curiosity.

Instead of answering the question, Bakugou turned on his heal and released his anger on the sidewalk, which received a hard beating as Bakugou stomped down the pavement.

Kirishima watched him lamely, blinking slowly. After retrieving his mail and gathering his things, he met his friends at a park nearby.

“- I’m pretty sure he cursed me a some point, if thats possible, I really should read up on this.” Kirishima continued, adding fuel to his story as Ashido, Sero and Kaminari gathered around to listen with wide eyes. They sat together under a small tree, eating cheap meals from the supermarket a block down the road.

Kaminari took a bite of his sandwich and spoke with his mouth full, “Well, the cat plan didn’t work then.”

Kirishima smiled, “well, it did. I wanted his attention, just not this kind of attention?”

Ashido scoffed, “the whole, ‘oh my cat is friends with your cat, lets hang out and eat some of my disgusting home made cookies until I decide its time to bring my cat home’ was a bit of a long shot, Kiri.” Kiri bowed his head before Ashido continued, “and of course, the unspoken, ‘and then you’ll like me and I can take you out and we’ll become boyfriends and -“ She was shoved playfully before she could continue by a tomato-red Kirishima.

“Shut up,” he cussed, “and my cookies aren’t that bad.”

“They kind of are,” mused Sero.

“Okay then I’ll use muffins,” he said.

His three friends paused to peer at their friend.

“What?” Kiri asked.

“You’re still going ahead with this, man? He kinda thinks you should ‘rot in hell’, as you put it,” Kaminari asked. 

Kirishima shrugged, “like I said, I got his attention.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear i'll edit these when I'm awake enough to, 
> 
> next chapter is Golden I promise


	4. What some would call muffins, others would call betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakugou has a reasonable conversation and Kirishima strikes a deal

The second time Kirishima knocked on Bakugou's front door, he was prepared for the oncoming storm. He wore a determined smile and carried a container full of chocolate muffins. The door was yanked open so roughly that it almost fell off its hinges. In response, Kirishima raised his hand in a small wave.

"Hi I, uh, don't really know what happened earlier, with my cat, I mean, but I brought muffins as an apology!" He raised the container to eye level.

Bakugou stared at him for a moment. He evidently had a busy morning, he wore a black apron covered in brightly coloured stains. Kirishima would have assumed he had been painting if not for the peculiar slime-like consistency of the red splashes. Bakugou grunted, rubbed his eyes and stepped away from the open door, walking back inside. An invitation, Kirishima assumed, to come in. 

“You look exhausted, man,” the red head began before abruptly holding his hands up in defence as his host shot him a glare.

Bakugou slumped into a seat beside a large desk. The old desk was filled with so many vials, chopping boards, vases and a large mortar and pestle that Kirishima struggled to see the table cloth that had been placed underneath. The red head himself settled on a slightly clearer dining table and watched as Bakugou mixed two substances together.

Honestly, Kirishima doubted he’d be allowed to see his neighbour long enough to fit in a full sentence. He hadn’t prepared to be let inside his house, and it took him several moments to collect his thoughts. The inside of the rickety house was far more polished than the outside, whether Bakugou himself had done this he wasnt sure.

The house consisted of an open plan living and dining room, with a small island to seperate the kitchen. A large round table with a single chair occupied half the space. The desk was tucked in the corner near the kitchen and beside racks of overhanging herbs and spices. The other side of the room a small couch faced the far wall.

The wood under his feet was polished and the walls a stained white, though cracks webbed the ceiling. Many untouched corners of the space were covered in a thick layer of dust, the thickness varying in spaces the boy had used most often.

Kirishima watched Bakugou for a moment, before his eyes strayed to the old broomstick that rested a meter from the angry teen. He reached out a hand to touch it, but it was slapped away.

“Do you want your nose growing to the size of your skull?” Bakugou warned.

Kirishima wasn’t deterred this time, “what’re you doing?”

Bakugou grumbled something before replying, “the old hag in the florists has crippling arthritis.”

“So…?”

“So I’m fixing it, fuckwit.”

Kirishima’s jaw dropped. “You can do that?”

“I can nullify the symptoms, yeah,” Bakugou replied, calmer this time. “What do you take me for?”

A soft smile accompanied Kirishima’s features after this. He had witnessed a flicker of softness in Bakugou as he ground red seeds and burnt yellow grasses. He was in his element. His face displayed no signs of agitation and his concentration bred an almost peaceful atmosphere. He decided not to mention the boys change in demeanour.

“So that’s what you’re going to do here, right? Sell potions?” Kirishima asked, taking advantage of the mood to press further into his neighbours usually guarded intentions.

Bakugou’s gaze flickered up to his guest for a moment, “yeah”.

“How many customers have you got so far?” He tried to make his voice that of innocent curiosity. The silence that followed after answered his question, though the tension in the air grew considerably. Kirishima understood Bakugou’s trouble in salesmanship now and tried to help.

“You could go down to the hospital, let your customer base start there,” he suggested, but Bakugou didn’t seem to be listening this time. He had turned his head towards his work and had started muttering to himself about mushroom stalks.

After cursing as a small flame started on the surface of some pink liquid, Bakugou sighed and leant back in his chair. “Where are those muffins?” He growled.

Kirishima sprung into action, unlatching the container to the forgotten muffins and handing one over and taking one for himself. “I go down there sometimes, you know, the hospital. Some of the kids don’t get their fair share of visits so I volunteer. I used to bring cookies but no one would eat them, even the kids. So I thought I’d try muffins.”

The two boys bit down into their baked goods at the same time. Bakugou immediately spluttered and coughed, spitting out the dough and burning it in a nearby trashcan with a nearby charm for good measure. Kirishima forced himself to swallow the mouthful he’d taken, but set the remainder down beside him.

Amidst Bakugou’s vulgar curses, Kirishima managed to fit in a “sorry, man, I shoulda used the caster sugar.”

“What the fuck did you use instead?”

“Baking powder and sweetener?” Kirishima scratched his head as Bakugou looked at him in astonishment and what looked like betrayal.

“Why the slimy bullfrog skinning fuck, did you think that was a good idea?” Bakugou approached Kirishima as if he were confronting him on the highest offence. His face leaning in to Kirishima’s, expression livid with astonishment and anger.

Kirishima shrugged, “it was what I had at the time?”

“I have nightshade and living pixies at my disposal, but I don’t dip them in Old Lady Goblin-Teeth’s morning juice because I cant find a wad of moly outside that godforsaken forest.” He fumed. “You can’t just substitute whatever’s around, shitty hair.”

“Is that why you stole from my garden?”

Bakugou paused in his rage at the unexpected comment. He had hoped his escapade went under the radar.

“I know it was you, who else would leave broken glass and red slime behind?” He continued. “I found heaps of it beside the wall, I’m assuming that’s why you’re angry at my cat?”

Bakugou reminded silent.

Kirishima laughed nervously at the role reversal. “It’s okay, I guess, I mean thats why you haven’t made any progress in this business thing right? You don’t have enough supplies or whatever?”

The young wizard turned back to face his desk and discretely hide his face, “yeah.”

Kirishima assumed this was the reason he was even let into the boy’s home in the first place. Whatever guilt Bakugou was capable of holding allowed Kirishima to hold a longer conversation with him. He had softened his anger towards the red head in a weird sort of apology. He didn’t want this dynamic to end, though hoped in the future it could come from something other than theft.

“Well lets make a deal, try my muffins when I make them and you can take what you need from my garden,” Kirishima explained. Bakugou turned to face him again.

“You have a deal, shitty hair.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you enjoyed it, or if you have any constructive criticism with some comments/kudos!
> 
> or come talk to me on Tumblr @sarsroses


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